


Totally Real And Kinda Hot

by Weevilo707



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Cigarettes, Crushes, Other, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 14:32:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19152979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weevilo707/pseuds/Weevilo707
Summary: Hollis knew things had been stressful lately, and they knew that nothing was quite how it seemed in Kepler. Despite that, they were finding it pretty hard to believe what Keith was telling them. No one could blame them, being told magic was real was a little far fetched without any hard proof.If it was though, well, that deserved some looking into at the very least.





	Totally Real And Kinda Hot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hannahlady](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hannahlady/gifts).



“Magic?” Hollis asked, not making any pretense not sounding skeptical. They  _ were _ skeptical, and frankly a little concerned about the mental health of their friend. Shit had been pretty high stress lately sure, but they didn’t expect Keith to crack that fast.

“Yes magic, and don’t- don’t give me that look Hollis. After everything that’s gone on is it really that out of the question?” Keith asked. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a point. There was something wrong in Kepler, it didn’t take a genius to notice that.

And it wasn’t that Hollis was in the business of spying on innocent people. As much as their stunt group didn’t see eye to eye with the local authorities, they were also in the business of keeping an eye on their little community. To make sure nothing worse than a bunch of dare devil stunt junkies showed up.

Kepler had always been a little off, but there was no denying that things had taken a turn for the stranger once Aubrey had shown up.

Still,  _ magic _ though?

“Maybe it was a trick of the light, or she was bluffing. Isn’t she a stage magician?” Hollis asked, because Keith got a little overzealous sometimes for sure. He might have forgotten a much simpler, obvious solution than 'magic is real.'

“It wasn’t a bluff, or lighting or anything. She wasn’t wearing a glove, nothing up the damn  _ sleeve, _ okay? She snapped her fingers, and there was fire, and it wasn’t the first time something like that's happened, okay?” Keith continued to insist, and Hollis had to pause at that. It wasn’t like him to be  _ this _ freaked out over something.

“Okay, we’re gonna take this from the top. Explain exactly what she  _ did, _ and how you’re positive it was magic,” Hollis said. Keith took a deep breath, calming down some before launching into his explanation.

“So the first time, it was just the snow, she melted it in front of me somehow. I thought it was weird but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you all to think I was crazy, but then I followed them to some sort of  _ monster _ . I crashed my bike and the next thing I knew I woke up strapped to a table with Aubrey standing above me, making her actual hands catch on fire as she threatened to burn me to death and  _ admitted _ to magic and all that shit being real,” he said, in a rush like he was afraid Hollis would cut in.

Now that he was done though, Hollis was quiet as they thought it over. Aubrey had certainly stood out when they first met, but they weren’t sure if they’d call it  _ magical. _ Keith was real convinced though. Fire magic seemed a little far fetched, but if it  _ was _ real…

They must’ve been quiet for a bit too long, because Keith was giving them a look now.

“Oh my god,” he said, and Hollis raised an eyebrow at that.

“What?”

“You think its hot,” Keith said, sounding completely exasperated. Hollis didn’t let the blatant call out phase them, keeping a neutral expression.

“I mean, you  _ did _ say it was fire,” they said, not quite able to keep the amusement out of their voice.

“Hollis she was going to  _ kill me,” _ Keith insisted.

“She doesn’t seem the type for murder, it was probably a bluff,” Hollis said, because even taking magic out of the question it was still possible to burn someone to death. Which didn’t seem Aubrey’s style.

“She had me strapped to some weird operation table! I  _ saw her _ talking to some freaky mothman creature!” Keith yelled, and the credibility Hollis was tentatively giving him before fell through at that.

“Seriously,  _ mothman?” _ they asked, turning and grabbing their bike helmet.

“I’m not crazy, just listen-” Keith started, but Hollis was already climbing onto their bike.

“Ya know, I think I’m just going to go ask Aubrey about all this,” they said, noting the look of panic on Keith’s face at that.

“Wait- wait Hollis no! Hollis she’ll kill me if she finds out- Hollis!” he shouted after them, but they ignored him, heading off in the direction of Amnesty Lodge. The place was always a little strange. Anyone who paid attention could tell it wasn’t an actual lodge, the people inside seeming to live there all year round. Hell, Jake had lived there for as long as Hollis had known him, which was years now. Still, no one there bothered anyone or seemed dangerous. Hollis had always figured the lodge lie was for tax breaks or something.

It wasn’t too difficult to find Aubrey, out back with that rabbit of hers. There was obvious surprise on her face as they walked around the corner, having left their bike out front.

“Oh hey, Hollis, right?” she asked. They nodded, moving to lean against the back of the house. It was just the two of them out here, which was a bit of a relief. No matter which way this went, Hollis was going to sound a little crazy.

“Yeah, nice seeing you again. Listen, I don’t want to waste your time, especially over something like this, so I’ll just get straight to the point,” they started, and Aubrey was watching them with suspicion. “You remember Keith, right? Well, they said you threatened to kill them, with  _ magic,” _ they said. A couple quick flashes of emotion crossed her face at that, fear, anger, before settling on not-too-convincing surprise.

“What? Me, threaten to  _ kill _ them? I would never!” she said, and Hollis simply nodded, ignoring that unconvincing act.

“The magic was more the thing I was interested in. He said you could do it, for _ real,” _ they said. That caught her off guard, and there was a clear debate going on in her head before she leaned in.

“Okay, listen, you can’t tell anyone but…” she said, glancing around like she was looking for spies. “I totally can,” she whispered in a conspiratorial voice.

“Can you now?” Hollis asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” she said, before moving back and throwing her arms out. “Thousands of years ago, on the banks of the Nile! Priests believed that if someone believed  _ hard _ enough, they could-” she started loudly, clearly going into some routine. Hollis didn’t let her finish, snorting in amusement and shaking their head, pulling out a pack of cigarettes as they pushed off against the wall.

“Yeah, that’s about what I thought,” they said, starting away. They’d have to talk to Kieth about these wild ideas.  _ Mothman, _ seriously?

Before they left they heard a snap, and looking at the cigarette they were about to light, the tip was already aflame. Glancing back at Aubrey, she was grinning.

_ "Totally real," _ she insisted, winking. Before Hollis could say anything else, she picked up her rabbit and walked off back into the lodge.

Huh. Well.

Maybe this deserved some further looking into. Just to be safe. 

Also because well, that was kinda hot.

**Author's Note:**

> my first attempt at an Amnesty fic! i gotta thank [hannahlady](https://hannahlady.tumblr.com/) for this request, it was a lot of fun to do! I hope I managed to do it justice, it was fun trying to get into the heads of these characters. I would say this is a slight AU where Keith tells Hollis about all the magic a lot sooner, which is why things are _quite_ as high stakes as they are in canon. 
> 
> as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
